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David Hale, ESPN staff writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Florida State started true freshman Brock Glenn in Saturday night’s ACC Championship game against Louisville in place of Tate Rodemaker, who suffered a concussion last weekend and has been ruled out.
Rodemaker was in pads and warming up before the match, but was ultimately deemed unavailable for the clash. AJ Duffy backed Glenn against the Cardinals.
Glenn, a former four-star recruit from Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee, had thrown just four career passes at Florida State entering the game, including an incompletion against Florida while Rodemaker was being tested for a concussion last week .
Glenn took all the live reps into rehearsal this week.
“When you see Brock and the skill set that he brings even during the week of practice, we’re all getting ready to play, and it’s the same thing we faced a week ago. He knew that was it,” coach Mike Norvell said Friday. “It would be one game away and he eventually had to come in and be ready for that situation, and he was. We handled it the same way.”
Rodemaker suffered a concussion on a hit late in the fourth quarter of the Seminoles’ Week 13 win over Florida. Gators defenseman Jaydon Hill was ejected for scoring after the play, and Rodemaker retreated to the injury tent for evaluation. He returned two plays later to help set up the touchdown drive.
Norvell said Rodemaker had no concussion symptoms during the game, but on Sunday he was added to the protocol.
Rodemaker made just his second career start against Florida after FSU lost incumbent Jordan Travis to an ankle injury the previous week. Glenn became the third different quarterback to start for the Seminoles in as many weeks.
Norvell insisted on Friday that the game plan would not change significantly, and said Glenn brings great talent and confidence to the role.
“He’s still young, but he’s mature beyond his years,” Norvell said. “When you walk around someone and he’s done that [confidence]And it’s true, it gives everyone around them confidence as well. He won’t back down. He will put everything he has into it. … I have a lot of confidence in what it’s going to look like.”
The last quarterback to make his first career start in a Power 5 conference title game was Ohio State’s Cardell Jones, who led the Buckeyes to a 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the 2014 Big Ten final, then proceeded to beat Alabama and Oregon on the way. To the national championship.
